U.S.-China Economic Competition

The Yangshan Deep-Water Port in Hangzhou Bay is one of the world's busiest container ports.

Photo by yangna/Getty Images

U.S.-China competition, including economic competition, has come to define U.S. foreign policy since 2017. The two economies are the first- and second-largest national economies in the world and they are deeply intertwined in all aspects of international exchange. Any changes to the relationship, however necessary, could be costly.

To respond to this challenge, RAND conducted economic and institutional analyses of U.S.-China competition, engaged in a participatory foresight exercise to understand the long-term path for ensuring U.S. economic health, and created two economic competition games exploring the dynamics of multiple countries trying to ensure their economic health while interacting with each other and the private sector. The results are published in a four-part set of reports.